Brokers react as Sensex ends above 79k, Nifty 50 surpasses 24,000 for the first time, in Kolkata on Thursday. (ANI Photo)
| Photo Credit: ANI

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty hit intra-day record high levels before closing almost flat on July 29 due to profit-taking in FMCG and IT shares by cautious investors ahead of the key U.S. Fed interest rate decision later this week.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed higher by 23.12 points or 0.03% at 81,355.84, its all-time closing high, with 16 of its components advancing and 14 ending lower.

The index opened higher and jumped 575.71 points or 0.70% to hit a new intra-day record peak of 81,908.43 in late-morning deals following a decline in U.S. bond yields. However, investors preferred to book profits at record high levels amid high volatility dragging the index lower to close flat.

The NSE Nifty ended marginally up 1.25 points or 0.01% at an all-time closing high of 24,836.10. During the day, it surged 164.9 points or 0.66% to hit a fresh lifetime peak of 24,999.75.

Gainers and losers

From the Sensex pack, Larsen & Toubro rose the most by 2.77% after it announced bagging new large orders worth ₹2,500 crore to ₹5,000 crore.

UltraTech Cement, which announced the acquisition of 32.72% stake in India Cements from promoters and their associates for ₹3,954 crore, closed up 1.42%. India Cements closed lower by 0.65%.

Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries and Sun Pharma were among the biggest gainers.

On the other hand, Titan Ltd fell the most 2.38%. Bharti Airtel (2.22%), ITC (1.33%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (1.04%) and HDFC Bank (0.68%) were among the major losers, dragging the key indices from record highs. IT shares Tech Mahindra, TCS, Infosys, and HCL Tech fell up to 1% ahead of the U.S. Fed meeting on interest rates.

“Nifty ended almost flat after a volatile session. Asian stocks started the week with gains ahead of central bank policy meetings in the US, the UK and Japan,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

BSE smallcap index hits all-time high

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge jumped 1.17% and the midcap index climbed 0.80%. The BSE smallcap index hit its all-time high level during the day.

Among the indices, capital goods surged 2.73%, industrials rallied 2.33%, realty (1.51%), oil & gas (1.17 per cent), energy (0.96%) and power (0.76%). IT, telecommunication, utilities and teck were the laggards.

Mixed global cues

“An ease in the U.S. personal consumption expenditure to 2.5% and the subsequent drop in the US 10-year yield have fuelled optimism that the Fed might cut rates in September, leading to a global rally. However, profit-booking was triggered in the domestic market given trading in the overbought territory and closed flat,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Mixed global cues and the underperformance of major banks are causing an intermediate pause in the index, Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong settled in the positive territory. European markets were trading on a mixed note. The US markets rallied on July 26.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹2,546.38 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.31% to $80.88 a barrel.